BIODANCE performed “0ut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” (Rumi) on April 6, 2019 at Nazareth College as part of the Vision of Sound Festival.
Choreography by Missy Pfohl Smith and BIODANCE, with contributions by Shahin Monshipour. Performed by Alex Alletto, Zachary Frazee, Sarah Johnson, Natalia Lisina, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino. Music composed by Carrie Magin.
BIODANCE premiered “0ut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” (Rumi) on March 31, 2019.
Choreography by Missy Pfohl Smith and BIODANCE, with contributions by Shahin Monshipour. Performed by Alex Alletto, Jeanne Schickler Compisi, Sarah Johnson, Natalia Lisina, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino. Music composed by Carrie Magin.
Video Recorded at Vision of Sound, Carrier Theater, Syracuse, NY. View video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khrrhMvmHCY
On Wednesday, Dec. 19, BIODANCE will complete its 12 for 12 project with a free performance for some of their favorite audience members – the senior citizens at Community Place of Greater Rochester! This free performance will start at 10:45am and will feature works from the 2019 work, Aria, along with other BIODANCE repertory. Taking the place of BIODANCE’s regular limited mobility (in chairs) weekly dance class, the full company will perform on site for its friends at Community Place. We are excited. Limited space will allow for some outside guests. Please email [email protected] for directions to get to the Center on the 3rd floor of 145 Parsells Ave.
Wish us luck! We are excited!
This event is supported by a decentralization grant, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with support from Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts and Livingston Arts, a member-supported organization, as well as by the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation and the Gouvernet Arts Fund.
BIODANCE, fivebyfive and video artist Josh Thorson receive month-long artist residency at Visual Studies Workshop!
Residency will culminate in a public performance on First Friday, December 7
As a tribute to composer, vocalist, dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Meredith Monk, the quintet fivebyfive will pair up with artist Josh Thorson and choreographer Missy Pfohl Smith/BIODANCE to explore Monk’s music visually through movement and video. This collaboration will explore three mediums in which Monk herself actively works: music, film and choreography/dance.
Recognized as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, Meredith Monk’s work thrives at weaving together new modes of perception. Accepting the Gish Prize, Monk said “art can be a healing force and a source of light during dark times.”
The project will combine music arranged for fivebyfive by the quintet’s bassist Eric Polenik, with visuals and movement that will be developed over the four-week residency, Nov. 5 – Dec. 8, 2018. The residency will culminate in a performance on December 7, 2018, and the group return to the collaborative work in future performances.
fivebyfive’s mission is to engage audiences in the collaborative spirit and creativity of modern chamber music by commissioning, arranging and performing a wide range of works for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, bass and piano.
Missy Pfohl Smith (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Performer) is the founder and Artistic Director of BIODANCE, a non-profit contemporary dance company based in Rochester, and the Director of the University of Rochester Program of Dance and Movement. Smith enjoys collaborating with multi-disciplinary artists in music, visual art, sculpture, film and technology.
Josh Thorson is an artist, writer, and designer. In 2018, he will design the projections for a production of Oklahoma! at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, and continue his collaboration on a new opera with composer Nick Hallett. Thorson is an Assistant Professor of Fine Art in the Photo School at RIT.
Source of Light by fivebyfive, Missy Pfohl Smith and Josh Thorson
You are cordially invited!
Please join hosts Danielle Fraenkel, Jeffrey Mehr, and Wynette Vickers for a party that includes tasty Laughing Gull Chocolates and performances by both BIODANCE and KineoLab — all in support of Robin Wilt’s congressional candidacy! Robin is a dedicated progressive who will advocate for all the diverse communities of the 25th Congressional District.
We are thrilled to offer you the opportunity to meet Robin and to listen as she shares her passionate perspective and answers some of your questions. Robin is a working mother, life-long activist, and community organizer–she is eager to meet and hear from you!
We will gather at Kinections, located at 718 University Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts, on Monday, June 18th, from 7:00 -9:00 PM. The entrance to Kinections is next to Writers & Books, facing Atlantic Avenue. You will know you are there when you see the yellow canopy.
KineoLab and BIODANCE will each share a dance performance highlighting one of the social justice issues Robin plans to address once she is elected! We’ll also have time to mingle and get to know one another over drinks, snacks, and chocolate served by Lindsay Tarnoff, Chief Chocolatier of Laughing Gull Chocolates.
BIODANCE, under the artistic direction of Missy Pfohl Smith, has been creating and rehearsing at Kinections for more than a decade. All five of the original dancers in “Possible Side Effects,” choreographed and costumed by Jeanne Schickler Compisi, will perform. Created in 2016 as part of the BIO/Dance and Social Justice Project, the piece addresses some troubling issues with the pharmaceutical industry and the roles drugs play in today’s society.
Jeffrey and Danielle will tell you they are working to help Robin become our next congressperson, and why they believe Robin is the only candidate who will represent our district with the combined intelligence and compassion that characterized Louise Slaughter’s tenure.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn about Robin’s positions, to become a volunteer, to make a donation, to take a photo with the candidate, and to pick up campaign literature.
Robin looks forward to meeting you!
The primary is coming up fast on June 26th! Check your polling place and voter registration here: https://www.monroecounty.gov/etc/voter/
Can’t make it to the event?
Donate today: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wilt-for-congress
Become a volunteer: https://www.wiltforcongress.com/take-action/
Learn more about our performers and hosts!
BIODANCE: http://www.biodance.org/
KineoLab: https://www.kineolab.org/
Laughing Gull Chocolates: http://www.laughinggullchocolates.com/
Kinections: http://www.kinections.com/
BIODANCE will share various works in Dances at MuCCC, a festival of contemporary dance featuring local, regional, and visiting artists, on June 16, 20 and 23 at 8pm at Multi-Use Community Cultural Center (142 Atlantic Ave, Rochester, NY).
Saturday June 16 @ 8 PM
Making Choices, Making Change, presented by Artists Coalition for Change Together (ACCT), offers work by artists who seek to create positive social change. In addition, Artists Coalition for Change Together offers a workshop on Saturday June 16 from a 10 AM – 2 PM.
Wednesday and Friday June 20 and June 22 @ 8 PM
Dances at MuCCC returns for its fifth year, June 13 – 23, doubling in length and offering ten performances by nearly 30 different choreographers and companies. Tickets are $8 in advance at www.muccc.org, $10 at the door or $8 for students and seniors.
For further information on performances, classes and tickets, please visit www.muccc.org.
Dances at MuCCC is coordinated by Laurie MacFarlane and Ruben Ornelas in conjunction with MuCCC Theater.
This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, a member supported organization.
Celebrate BIODANCE’s 12th Anniversary at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Stage on May 17-20, 2018.
TICKETS on sale now for BIODANCE friends! Follow this link for the best prices and seats for the BIODANCE 12th Anniversary Season at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Stage May 17-19, 2018! BIODANCE celebrates with highlights from its dozen years as a Rochester community-based company. Repertory will include a BIODANCE premiere by Missy Pfohl Smith with motion capture imaging by W. Michelle Harris and music composed by Garret Reynolds, a reprise of excerpts of “Solo/Countersolo” by NYC-based choreographer Heidi Latsky, “Possible Side Effects” by local choreographer and BIODANCER Jeanne Schickler Compisi, and other favorites from the company’s repertory.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDIA CONTACTS: Missy Pfohl Smith
May 1, 2018
Email: [email protected], Phone:585-201-1002
BIODANCE Celebrates 12th Anniversary in Rochester
May 17, 18, and 19 at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Stage
75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607
Rochester, NY- BIODANCEcelebrates its 12th anniversary in four concerts at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Stage on May 17-19, featuring a world premiere, two Rochester premieres, and selected repertory from the company’s dozen years of work, including the revival of Heidi Latsky’s Solo Countersolo. Former BIODANCE member Courtney World will return to her hometown of Rochester to perform for this anniversary celebration.
BIODANCE is excited to revive Solo Countersolo, a masterwork created by internationally renowned artist Heidi Latsky in 2013 for her NYC-based company. Solo Countersolofocuses on a soloist (Missy Pfohl Smith) as the counterpoint to the ensemble, weaving through a landscape of vigorously moving bodies to British composer Chris Brierley’s passionate score.
BIODANCE will premiere of Loom, a collaboration between choreographer Missy Pfohl Smith (Artistic Director, BIODANCE and Director, Program of Dance and Movement, University of Rochester), digital media artist W. Michelle Harris (Associate Professor, RIT), a long-time BIODANCE collaborator, and composer and Garret Reynolds (MM, Eastman).This visually striking work utilizes motion capture technology and features new live music.
The program will also include works from its repertoire includingI.T.(2009) with live and original music by composer Mark Oliveri, and No Dancing Allowed (2011), both choreographed by Smith and Possible Side Effects(2016) choreographed by Jeanne Schickler Compisi. For this special occasion, BIODANCE also commissionedThat’s all, folks, a moving work by emerging Maine-based choreographers Flannery Black-Ingersoll and Johanna Hayes that will celebrate its Rochester premiere.
This event ismade possible with support from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts at the Livingston Arts Center, a member supported organization. This event is also being generously supported by The Max and Marion Farash Charitable Foundation.
Details:
BIODANCE 12thAnniversaryappears at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Nextstage May 17, 18, and 19 at 7:00pm and May 19 at 2pm.
Ticket Information:
Geva Theatre Center Ticket Information: (585)-232-4382 or https://tickets.gevatheatre.org
BIODANCE website: www.biodance.org, Phone: (585)-201-1002
BIODANCE Social Media: facebook.com/BIODANCE1 and Twitter: @BIODANCE1
Parking: Geva Theatre Center Parking Lot or street parking
Full Accessibility Provided at Geva Theatre Center
NOTE TO MEDIA: Interviews and photos are available upon request.
BIODANCE Dancers: Jeanne Schickler Compisi, Sarah Dearstyne, Sarah Johnson, Natalia Lisina, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Alaina Olivieri, Julie Schlafer Rossette, Jean Michael Rubingu, Missy Pfohl Smith, Courtney World
Biographies:
Choreographer, performer and collaborative artist, Missy Pfohl Smithdirects the Program of Dance and Movement at University of Rochester and is artistic director for the contemporary repertory company, BIODANCE, based in Rochester, NY. Her work has continually sold out shows at Rochester Fringe, having been called “Gorgeous…astonishing…exceptional” and “a brilliantly crafted world of beauty, melody and calmness” by Rochester City News. She enjoys creating site specific work and recently created her second evening length show crafted for a 4 story planetarium in collaboration with a media artist, dancers, musicians and a visual artist. Missy’s viola and dance work with Bridget Kinneary is expanding to include new contemporary compositions by internationally known composers. Her choreography, performance and teaching has spanned across the US and internationally, most recently in Greece, Finland and Scotland. She is certified in Bill Evans Laban/Bartenieff-based pedagogy and also teaches choreography, dance on camera and contemporary dance and social justice. Before returning to Rochester in 2004, Smith was based in NYC for 12 years and performed and taught internationally with Randy James Dance Works and Paul Mosley, as well as apprenticing for the Erick Hawkins Dance Company.
BIODANCEis a non-profit contemporary dance company founded in 2002 that collaborates with multi-disciplinary artists and is the only true repertory company in Rochester, performing work by a roster of recognized choreographers including Missy Pfohl Smith, Bill Evans, Randy James, Ivy Baldwin, Jeanne Schickler Compisi, D. Chase Angier, Laura Regna and Courtney World. BIODANCE explores social, political and environmental issues through its works always through dance, sometimes with text, film, music, and ice cream. BIODANCE interacts with and outreaches to its community members and across the country in a variety of ways through performances, workshops, benefit concerts, interactive lecture-demonstrations and classes at venues such as Geva’s Nextstage, Hochstein Concert Hall, the Strasenburgh Planetarium, MUCCC and more. Over the past eight years, BIODANCE has been providing free dance and movement workshops to the Senior Center at Community Place of Greater Rochester. Recent collaborators have included the musical artists of Sound ExChange, digital media artist W. Michelle Harris, visual artist Allen C. Topolski, and the leading choral/orchestral ensemble Rochester Oratorio Society. BIODANCE has received Community Arts Organization Grants from the Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, New York State Council on the Arts and the NYS Legislature, from the Rochester Area Community Foundation, the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, among other grants to create new work, to interact with its community and to produce various annual home performance seasons. City News chose BIODANCE two years in a row for a Best of Fringe Award in the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival.
Michelle Harrisis a media artist and a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work mixes digital and material to engage the audience while addressing the roles of women in American culture. Her work (solo and collaborative) has been shown at such diverse venues as the ACM SIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and the reActor International Conference on Digital Live Art, as well as regional venues such as the Baobab Cultural Center, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, and Four Walls. She has done visuals for performances in collaboration with choreographer Juanita Suarez (ImageMovementSound festivals and the Be Here Now ensemble), Sound ExChange orchestra, and BIODANCE (Rochester Fringe ‘17, ’16, ’15, ’13 Festivals). She received her BS in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and a MPS in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (where she had the honor of interning with Troika Ranch). Michelle has been an ongoing collaborator with Missy Pfohl Smith at University of Rochester and BIODANCE, and plans to continue to collaborate with the company in 2018.
Heidi Latsky, originally from Montreal, first received recognition as a celebrated principal dancer for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company (1987-1993). Her experience there profoundly influenced her style and her philosophy of dance as she developed a reputation in her own right as a choreographer for stage, theater and film. In 1993, she received a commission from the Cannes International Dance Festival. Three years later, she was chosen to represent Canada at the Suzanne Dellal International Dance Competition in Tel Aviv and at Danse a Lille in France. Since then, Latsky has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe with her own company and as part of Goldhuber & Latsky(with former partner Lawrence Goldhuber) [1996-2000]. Latsky headed the Movement Department at The School for Film and Television from 1998-2005, where she developed her teaching practice: The Latsky Method. She has taught internationally throughout her career and her “Movement Portraits in Action” program has been implemented at the AIDS Service Center and The Creative Center in NYC. While working with Theater Director Mary Fulham, she received two Innovative Theater Award nominations. She served as choreographer on Academy Award nominated Katja Esson’s film “A Season of Madness” and as director and choreographer on Susan Murphy’s GIRL/GROUP at the Marquee, NYC (2003). In 2001, she founded her own company, Heidi Latsky Dance (HLD). During the fall of 2006, Latsky began an intensive period of creation with bi-lateral amputee, Lisa Bufano. This marked a significant shift of focus for HLD and a period of immense growth, during which she more fully developed the company’s mission and vision. HLD received an ARC grant through Pentacle that included mentoring Latsky for a period of 18 months, and in 2009 she was chosen by Creative Capital Foundation as one of four choreographers nationally to receive a three-year award for her evening-length work, GIMP. Her range of work is as varied as guest lecturing at Harvard University, performing with other Bill T Jones’ alumni in “SUMMER REUNION,” restaging a piece of Arnie Zane’s at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee, creating a work at the Aaron Academy for high school students with learning disabilities, directing workshops in performance skills, performing in 2012’s TEDxWomen, and developing new works for her contemporaries like Li Chiao Ping as featured in several films by Douglas Rosenberg, including Seven Solos in 2012. Latsky has continued her work as an adjudicator of the American College Dance Festival Association’s (ACDFA) and serves on the Artist Advisory Board of Danspace Project. She has a BA in Psychology with Honors from Carleton University (1979), receiving the Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement and The Ottawa Ladies College Scholarship.
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Scent of Spring Performance – March 17, 2pm, St. John Fisher College
On March 17, 2018, BIODANCE tries something new as we learn about new cultures and fascinating places in the world. We will premiere a new collaborative work with Shahin Monshipour as part of InterCulture and Arts Network’s Celebration of the Persian New Year/Nowruz at St. John Fisher College at 2-5PM. The event is free and takes place in the Cleary Auditorium. Come celebrate the rebirth of spring, gifts of nature, and unity of humankind.
Press coverage: http://classical915.org/post/hugging-goat-getting-persian-bagpipes
Busherhi Dance/Hele Mali
Collaboratively Choreographed by Shahin Monshipour and Missy Pfohl Smith, with duet by N’Jelle Gage and Guy Thorne
Music by Rastak Ensemble
Costumes by Shahin Monshipour
Performed by BIODANCE: Sarah Dearstyne, Sarah Johnson, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Alaina Olivieri, Jean Michael Rubingu, Missy Pfohl Smith
“Our performers are talented individuals who aim at bringing us together to strengthen our human bonds through the medium of dance and expressive movements. They work with a passion for learning new and innovating techniques in performing of different genres of dance within their cultural contexts.” – Shahin Monshipour
BIODANCE presented Thin Ice at (Un)Doing Balance as a benefit for Mission Improvable in Buffalo at the Alt Theater on Sat. Dec. 2 at 8pm. Natalia Lisina and Nanako Horikawa Mandrino performed in this excerpted work from Labyrinth, with music by Michael Wall, used with permission.
